Goronwy ap Tudur Hen
Tomb of Goronwy ap Tudur Hen at St Gredifael's Church, Penmynydd
Bornc. early 14th century
Died11 December 1331
Resting placeBangor, Gwynedd
Other namesGoronwy ap Tudur
Goronwy Fychan
OccupationWelsh noble
TitleLord of Penmynydd
SpouseGwerfyl ferch Madog of Hendwr
Children

Goronwy ap Tudur Hen (died 1331), also known as Goronwy ap Tudur or Goronwy Fychan, was a Welsh aristocrat and Lord of Penmynydd. He was a member of the Tudor family of Penmynydd, Anglesey, North Wales, and a direct ancestor of Owen Tudor and thereby the Royal House of Tudor. He was a soldier for the English crown, who fought in the First War of Scottish Independence, including in the English invasion which led to the Battle of Bannockburn. He remained loyal to King Edward II of England until the king's death, and was both a yeoman and forester of Snowdon. After his death in 1331, his body was interred in Llanfaes Friary, near Bangor, Gwynedd.

Ancestry and family

Goronwy ap Tudur Hen was one of three sons of Welsh noble Tudur Hen (English: Tudur the Elder) and Anghared fil Ithel Fychan,[1][2] alongside Madog ap Tudur Hen and Hywel ap Tudur Hen.[1]

Tudor Hen had first been in service to Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (also known as Llywelyn the Last), the King of Gwynedd, but retained his titles under the conquest of Wales by King Edward I of England. But during the rebellion of Madog ap Llywelyn, Tudur acted as his steward. After the rebellion failed, Tudur pledged his loyalty to Edward.[3]

Utilising the more advantageous property laws of England, Tudur saw to it that his lands were passed seamlessly upon his death in 1311 into the hands of Goronwy.[1][4]

Service to the English crown

Goronwy ap Tudur Hen was Lord of Penmynydd and a soldier in the service of the English crown.[2][5] He joined King Edward II of England for his invasion of Scotland in 1314 as part of the First War of Scottish Independence, which included service at the Battle of Bannockburn in June of that year.[5] In 1316, a rebellion took place in Glamorgan under the leadership of Llywelyn Bren, at the same time Edward was campaigning in Scotland.[6]

Despite this, there was little concern that it would spread to North Wales, with the royal officials instead concerned with the threat of invasion from Ireland.[7] Some 1,500 troops were summoned from the area to support the King, and among those leading those troops were Iorweth ap Gruffudd, Gruffudd Llwyd and his cousin Goronwy ap Tudur Hen.[8] After these troops, under the command of Gruffudd Llwyd, moved to Chester, they were dismissed on 4 August 1316 to return to North Wales in order to protect the area from the Irish threat.[9]

Goronwy and his troops were again summoned into the King's service to retake Berwick in 1319, after Scottish forces had taken it a year earlier. The majority of the forces from Wales came from the southern Marcher Lords, but Goronwy, Gruffudd Llwyd and Hywel ap Gruffudd ap Geruath led those from the northern part of the country.[10] Around the same time, as a yeoman of the king, Goronwy was made forester of Snowdon. He remained loyal to Edward II, but following the king's death, he resumed service to Edward III.[5]

Goronwy married Gwerfyl ferch Madog, daughter of Madog ap Iorwerth, 3rd Baron of Hendwr.[2] Goronwy and Gwerfyl had three sons, Tudur, Hywel, and Gruffydd.[3][11]

Goronwy was interred after his death in the west wall of the Franciscan Llanfaes Friary near Bangor, Gwynedd on 11 December 1331. His father had overseen the reconstruction efforts of the friary, and in 1311 was the first of the family to be placed there following his death.[1][5]

Other members of the family were placed there following death, until some were moved following the Dissolution of the Monasteries under the Church of England imposed by King Henry VIII of England, with Goronwy's being moved to St Gredifael's Church, Penmynydd, where his tomb lies.[12][13]

Legacy

Goronwy's eldest son Hywel ap Goronwy joined the priesthood, and became a canon of Bangor Cathedral. In 1357, Hywel became the Archdeacon of Anglesey.[5] Gruffydd drowned in 1344.[11]

Goronwy ap Tudur Hen was one of the direct ancestors of the Royal House of Tudor.[14]

His son, Tudur ap Goronwy, became a knight in the service of Edward III, and was the grandfather of Owain ap Maredudd ap Tudur (through his son, Maredudd ap Tudur, grandson to Goronwy ap Tudur Hen).[15] Owain Anglicised his name, becoming Owen Tudor, and was himself the grandfather of King Henry VII of England, the founder of the House of Tudor.[16]

Lineage

Tudors of Penmynydd
Ednyfed Fychan
d. 1246
I[i][ii][iii][iv]Tudur ab EdnyfedGoronwy ab Ednyfed
d. 1268
II[i][ii][iii][iv][v]Tudur Hen
(Tudur ap Goronwy)
d. 1311
III[i][ii][iv][v][vi]Goronwy ap Tudur Hen
d. 1331		Tomos ap Llewelyn
d. 1343
IV[i][ii][iv][v][vii][viii]Hywel ap Goronwy
d. ca. 1367		Tudur ap Goronwy
d. ca. 1367		Marged ferch TomosElen ferch Tomos
(mother of
Owain Glyndŵr)
V[i][ii][iv][vii]Goronwy ap Tudur
d. 1382		Rhys ap Tudur
ex. 1412		Ednyfed ap Tudur
d. 1382		Gwilym ap Tudur
d. 1413		Maredudd ap Tudur
d. 1406
VI[i][iv][vii][ix][x]Gwilym ap Griffith
(Griffiths of Penrhyn)		Morfydd ferch GoronwyTudur ap Goronwy
d. ca. 1400		Owen Tudor
(Owain Tudur)
(ca. 1400–1461)
VII[iv][ix][x][xi]Tudur FychanEdmund Tudor,
1st Earl of Richmond
(ca. 1430–1456)		Jasper Tudor,
Duke of Bedford
(1431–1495)		Owen Tudor
monk
VIII[i][iv][ix][x][xi]Owain Tudor
d. 1504/1505		Henry VII of England
(1457–1509)
IX[i][iv][xi]William Owen ap
Tudor Fychan		John Owen ap
Tudor Fychan		Richard Owen Theodor (I)
d. 1527(?)		Arthur
(1486–1502)		Henry VIII
(1491–1547)
X[i][iv]Richard Owen Theodor (II)
d. 1558(?)		William Pritchard
(William Bold)		Edward VI
(1537–1553)		Mary I
(1516–1558)		Elizabeth I
(1533–1603)
XI[i][iv]Richard Owen Theodor (III)David Owen
Theodor
d. 1624
XII[i][iv]Richard Owen Theodor (IV)
fl. 1645
XIII[i][iv][xi]Richard Owen Theodor (V)
fl. 1665
XIV[i][iv][xi]Richard Owen Theodor (VI)
fl. 1669
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m J. Williams (1869). "Penmynyth and the Tudors". Archaeologia Cambrensis. 15 (3rd ser): 278–294, 379–402.
  2. ^ a b c d e Glyn Roberts (1959). "EDNYFED FYCHAN ( EDNYFED ap CYNWRIG ) and his descendants". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.
  3. ^ a b Peter Bartrum. "Marchudd 11". Prosiect Bartrum/Bartrum Project. Aberystwyth University.[dead link]
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glyn Roberts (1959). "Teulu Penwynydd". Transactions of the Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion: 17–37.
  5. ^ a b c Peter Bartrum. "Marchudd 12". Prosiect Bartrum/Bartrum Project. Aberystwyth University.[dead link]
  6. ^ Peter Bartrum. "Bleddyn ap Cynfyn 05". Prosiect Bartrum/Bartrum Project. Aberystwyth University.[dead link]
  7. ^ a b c Peter Bartrum. "Marchudd 13". Prosiect Bartrum/Bartrum Project. Aberystwyth University.[dead link]
  8. ^ Peter Bartrum. "Rhys ap Tewdwr 07". Prosiect Bartrum/Bartrum Project. Aberystwyth University.[dead link]
  9. ^ a b c Glyn Roberts (1959). "GRIFFITH OF PENRHYN (Caerns.)". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.
  10. ^ a b c Thomas Jones Pierce (1959). "OWAIN TUDOR ( c. 1400 - 1461 )". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.
  11. ^ a b c d e Thomas Jones Pierce (1959). "TUDOR family of Penmynydd , Anglesey — later members". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Jones 1839, p. 29.
  2. ^ a b c Paget 1977, p. 146.
  3. ^ a b Griffiths & Thomas 1985, p. 16.
  4. ^ Beverley Smith 1976, p. 144.
  5. ^ a b c d e Griffiths & Thomas 1985, p. 17.
  6. ^ Griffiths 1994, pp. 84–91.
  7. ^ Carr 1984, pp. 16–17.
  8. ^ Macpherson, Caley & Illingworth 1814–1819, p. 156.
  9. ^ Beverley Smith 1976, p. 152.
  10. ^ Palgrave 1827–1834, pp. 517–520.
  11. ^ a b Carr 1970, p. 123.
  12. ^ Griffiths & Thomas 1985, pp. 18–19.
  13. ^ Amin, Nathen (2010). Tudor Wales. Amberley Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1445617916.
  14. ^ Roberts 1959.
  15. ^ Nicholas 1872, p. 29.
  16. ^ "A royal dynasty". BBC Wales. 5 August 2008. Retrieved 21 April 2016.

References

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